Referrals for carer breaks and care provision for those with health and social care needs
How do I make a referral for support to Crossroads?
Referrals can be accepted from a range of sources but this sometimes depends on where you live and how your service will be funded.
For example:
In Salford, services for children’s services must come through your social worker; services for adult services can come from your social worker, GP, Carers Centre, any other professional or even from yourself.
In Trafford, services for children must come through your social worker. Services for adults must come from the Trafford Carers Centre.
In Stockport, referrals for both children’s and adult services must come through your social worker.
In Bolton, all referrals come to us after you have been assessed for direct payments by the Council’s Direct Payments Team.
In Rochdale, referrals are mostly through the social work teams but this can vary so you are best speaking to the Care Manager at Rochdale to find out more.
In Oldham, carers are encouraged to speak to their social worker. Often they will be asked to top-up their care by paying a small contribution towards each hour of support received.
We also support people through Private and Self-directed care. If you want to use your direct payments, personalised budget, self fund or fund by other means you can contact your local office directly.
Which areas does Crossroads provide support services in?
Crossroads is a national organisation with many schemes throughout the country.
Visit the website: www.crossroads.org.uk
The Crossroads Care in Greater Manchester Scheme operates and provides support for carers and people with care needs in Bolton, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport and Trafford.
Can I refer myself for support from Crossroads?
Yes, depending on the area you live in and the method of funding that is to be used. You are best advised to contact the Care Management Team at the Scheme Office closest to your home.
Can I refer someone I know for support from Crossroads?
Yes, depending on the area you live in and the method of funding that is to be used. You are best advised to contact the Care Management Team at the Scheme Office closest to the person’s home.
What will happen once a referral is made for support?
When a referral is received at the office, you will be contacted so that the Care Manager or other senior staff member can make an appointment to come and see you so that a service assessment can take place. This will be at a time that suits you to minimise any disruptions to your day.
Will my personal information be shared with anyone else?
Personal information will only be shared with your permission and prior knowledge. Crossroads is registered with the Information Commissioners Office. It is likely that your information will be shared with the Local Authority if they are required to fund the care you receive.
It should be noted that there are exemptions under the Data Protection Act that can be applied if an offence may have been committed.
How long will I have to wait after referral before I get a service from Crossroads?
We prioritise all referrals and we aim to provide support to those most in need within a short space of time although this can depend on funding and staff availability. Some referrals are converted to service delivery in as little as 2 weeks.
What can I do if I am not happy with the outcome of the referral?
There is a complaints procedure which will be given to you at the initial assessment visit. This explains how to complain about anything you are not happy with.
Support services and care provision
What sort of support services will Crossroads provide?
Crossroads provides practical and emotional support for carers where and when it is most needed. A trained Carer Support Worker will take over all the caring tasks so that the carer can have some time to be themselves. In some cases, we will provide support to people who wish to live independently in their own home where there is not a formal carer or where the next of kin live far away or overseas.
The Crossroads service is available at any time of the day or night. The service is provided when people most need it, on the right day, at the right time and for the right length of time.
Support is given in many ways and includes:
- personal care/hygiene
- preparation of meals and support with feeding, shopping and cleaning
- administration of medications
- moving and handling
- accessing local community activities
- or simply sitting with or befriending the person with care needs.
What support services will Crossroads not provide?
Carer Support Workers are not able to provide the following tasks such as:
- ear syringing
- manual bowel evacuation (other than suppositories and use of microlax enema)
- bladder washouts
- injections (in the event of anaphylactic shock, an emergency epi-pen injection may be given)
- haemodialysis
- all toe-nail cutting and chiropody, and finger-nail cutting for diagnosed diabetics or patients with peripheral vascular disease
- removal / replacement of urinary catheters
- tracheotomy tube routine changing / replacement
- lifting an individual from the floor unaided
- filling / decanting of oxygen cylinders
- treatment of pressure sores
- syringe drivers – setting up and changing of and dosage changes.
Does Crossroads work with children and adults?
Yes. Crossroads works with all age groups and we support people with a range of health and social care needs.
How will Crossroads choose who my Carer Support Worker is?
During the assessment you will be given an opportunity to discuss your preferences which will help the Care Manager to match your requirements with the right Support Worker for you and your loved one. This may be linked to specialist tasks that are required or the gender of the Support Worker. If, for any reason, you wish to change your Support Worker this can be discussed with the Care Manager. If you would prefer to appoint a Personal Assistant through Crossroads Care, you should discuss this with the Care Manager who will find the right person for you and arrange a special contract of employment that places you in the driving seat.
Will I have to pay for the Crossroads support?
This depends on the area you live and the method of funding that is used. Your Care Manager will explain this at your initial assessment visit. Many people are finding that the Local Authorities are transferring carers and their loved ones to a Direct Payment which means that they will reassess the need for support and give a sum of money to the family to pay for the type of support they decide meets their needs the best.
How much will I have to pay for support?
This depends on the area you live and the method of funding that is used. Your Care Manager will explain this at your initial assessment visit.
Can I use my Direct Payments or Individualised Budgets monies to pay for Crossroads’ support service?
Direct payments and Individual Budgets can be used in all the service areas. The Care Manager will discuss the hourly rates with you at the initial assessment visit.
How long can the support service last for?
Crossroads can provide for both short and long term depending on individual needs. Services can also be used on an occasional or one off basis. Some carers use the service to support them to attend a short training course of six weeks and others to allow them to return to work for the foreseeable future.
What can I do if I am not happy with the service I am receiving?
Crossroads aims to provide a high standard of service to all our customers. However, sometimes, things do go wrong. When this happens, we need to know about it so we can put the matter right.
Crossroads leaflet “Tell Us What You Think” will be in your information folder which you can fill in and return back to us.
If you prefer the leaflet can be completed on line through the ‘Feedback’ section of our website.
How do I complain?
Crossroads aims to provide a high standard of service to all our customers. However, sometimes, things do go wrong. When this happens, we need to know about it so we can put the matter right.
A complaint may be made:
- in person
- by another person on the carer or cared for person’s behalf
- by letter
- by e-mail
- by telephone
- on a “Tell us what you think” form
- on-line.
Who should I speak to in Crossroads if I have a complaint?
We hope that the majority of complaints can be resolved informally by speaking directly to the person or persons involved. If, however, this does not prove possible then further stages are available to support complaints.
- Review by the Care Services Manager
- Review by the Scheme Director if not resolved by the Care Services Manager
- Review by a Complaints Panel if not resolved by the Scheme Director.
At any stage the complaint can be reported to the Care Quality Commission.
How can I contact in Crossroads in an emergency?
All the service areas have their own on call phone numbers which are available for staff and service users / carers to contact us outside of normal working hours or if the office answer phone is in use.
You will have this number in your information folder.
These numbers are also available on the Contact Us section of the website.
Please use these out of office hours numbers if you need to cancel a visit at short notice or to report that a member of staff has failed to show for example.
Getting involved with the Crossroads Care charity
How can I get more involved with the CrossroadsCharity?
If you click on the Getting Involved section of the website this will show you ways in which you can get involved with Crossroads.
Donations
How can I make a donation to support Crossroads’ charity work?
You can make a donation to Crossroads by sending in a cheque to your local office.
We rely on donations received to support people with sudden or urgent needs through short term services being provided in lieu of full assessment and planning with the Local Authority.We also use donations to support trips out to special events, canal trips on adapted barges, visits to Chester Zoo and other attractions.
We will always acknowledge receipt of your donation and are very grateful for any amount of donation received.
What will happen to my donation?
Unless stated otherwise all donations will be treated as unrestricted funding i.e. we can use your donation to help provide more services to carers in any operational area in the Greater Manchester schemes where we feel it is needed.Donations given for a specific area, such as Rochdale residents only, will be restricted for use by that scheme only or donations for children’s services will be used for children’s breaks and projects specifically for children with complex needs around our Greater Manchester schemes.
All donations received are used to provide more services to more carers and their loved ones.
Crossroads also has a number of special projects which donations help fund (as mentioned above).
Can I make a particular request for my donation?
You can request that your donation stays in a particular area i.e. Salford, Stockport, Bolton, Rochdale or Trafford or request that it funds a particular project or resource; we will then treat this donation as restricted to a particular area or project of your request.
Crossroads Care
Is Crossroads a charity?
Yes Crossroads is a registered charity; Charity Number 1059911.
How is Crossroads funded?
Crossroads is funded through a variety of different means from Local Authority Grants and Contracts, Primary Care Trust funding and Continuing Health Care contracts, to individual and corporate donations. We try to spread our income sources over a wide area so we are not at risk by losing a particular income – this will ensure that we are sustainable in the future.
How is Crossroads governed?
Crossroads is governed by a Board of Trustees which oversees our work and provides us with our strategic direction. We also have Local Authority and PCT advisers on our Board. To support the Board we also have Sub-Committees which are made up of both staff and service users, such as our Finance Sub-Committee.
How is Crossroads managed?
Day to day running of Crossroads is delegated to the Chief Executive Officer. There is also the Business Development Manager, an Operations Manager and a Finance Manager who support the CEO. Each individual service area (Bolton, Rochdale, Oldham, Salford, Trafford and Stockport) is managed by a Care Manager and Senior Carer Support Workers. We also have operational support staff consisting of a Finance Assistant, Admin Assistant and a Quality and Performance Improvement Officer.
